Tony Mamo of Mamo Motorsports recently became involved with a company that has developed a highly effective Ram Air Cold Air Intake system for the 2006-2013 Chevy Corvette C6 Z06 that features a well-developed ram air design, coupled with the largest filter area of any CAI he is familiar with.
The system was developed years ago but was never produced. Thankfully for C6Z owners, the company has changed hands and Mamo is now involved with the marketing and R&D of this C6 Z06 Ram Air CAI, along with future products that the company has in development. This CAI design for C6 Z06 Vettes is already shipping and several early customers have reported back with their satisfaction, including gains of 10 RWHP or more over various competitor intakes that they were previously using – and these results came from steady state tests on a chassis dyno without the ability to ram cool, ambient-temperature air to add power that you will experience at road speeds. Why This SS Ram-Air CAI for the C6 Z0s from Mamo Motorsports is Better
Most (not all) CAI designs still pull heated air from under the hood (with only the small vent in the hood helping to reduce temps), but that is only marginally effective in reducing your IATs. The Mamo Motorsports Ram Air SS delivers air at true ambient inlet temps, as long as you are moving over walking speed, which provides more oxygen-dense air that helps create more power.
This system requires cutting a large rectangle in the radiator shroud for achieving a ram air effect and the benefits of cooler ambient temperature air at the inlet.
The front grill opening is designed to pressurize the radiator cavity in the C6 design, which at speed forces cooler ambient air through the radiator, so the engineering for receiving ram air at the inlet is built into the Vette’s design. So, once you install this C6Z CAI, this inherent design also pressurizes and provides ambient airflow to your engine. Naturally, the faster you go the more the pressure differential increases the effectiveness of the system.
Keeping warm air from under the hood away from the inlet makes a big difference. In fact, power increases by 1% for every 10 degrees of intake air temp reduction. Of course, having this cooler air under pressure makes even more power – think BOOST (albeit a very slight amount), versus designs that slightly choke flow at higher RPM (you can validate this by logging KPA figures and seeing them drop under WOT).
The filter is huge, twice as large or more than most CAIs on the market to deliver excellent airflow and filtration capabilities, and it’s easy to get to for cleaning. This filter, combined with a larger plenum box with a lid that features 10x the cross sectional area of the four-inch plenum inlet means there is more high-pressure surface area pushing on that 4" air duct and feeding your engine. This is a key advantage to this CAI’s design.
Awesome performance benefits aside, we simply LOVE the way this CAI looks when it’s installed in a C6 Z06 Corvette. We think everyone can appreciate mods that appear more OEM in fit and finish, and this CAI does that in spades.
Tony ran a similar system many years ago on his C5 from Breathless Performance, and that car ran extremely well, delivering excellent trap speeds that he partially attributed to a similar ram air design as this system. That intake was similar in function and offered benefits, but it wasn't as big and effective as this design. Regardless, it still delivered a 3/10th of second improvement and 3 MPH higher speed through the traps in the ¼-mile. This design exploits the ram air effect much more effectively, for even Better Performance
After installing it and going for a drive, we didn’t need a dyno to sense that we picked up a BUNCH of power. We were somewhat blown away, but also knew that we need a measurement more precise than our butt dyno for a comparison, so we performed track testing using a Dragy to record essentially a dyno pull at speed. There was no shift, rather we took one long pull from 3,700 RPM to 7,000 RPM in 3rd gear and set the Dragy to record from 65 MPH to 123 MPH, then lifted as soon the factory rev limiter engaged at approximately 7,050 RPM. We started the run at 55 - 60 MPH (approximately 3,400 RPM) with a quick roll into WOT at that lower speed so the car was already WOT at 65 MPH, planted and accelerating when the Dragy started recording the data.
We did three pulls at the same water temp, starting in the exact same place (on the same road going the same direction) and we threw out the best and worst results of three runs for each configuration.
First test was with the OEM CAI, with the only mod to the ’08 Z06 being a ported OEM throttle body, which was used in every test. The following three test were performed after the addition of the Ram Air SS with the OEM tune in weather conditions identical to the baseline runs (low 40-degree ambient temps).
Solid gains here with just the addition of the CAI....Distance reduced by 51 feet and .34 quicker! Below are the final results with the Ram Air system and a calibration. Our butt dyno had already told us we made a solid increase over just the Ram Air and the OEM tune, but the biggest difference we felt was right from the hit where the car leaped, in spite of only turning around 3500 RPM as I rolled into the throttle. When it had the OEM CAI on it, the car was notably soft at that starting RPM. The Ram Air intake with the stock tune helped but when we dialed in the tune it made a remarkable difference.
A total reduction in ET of .56 seconds and requiring 81 feet less to get there vs our baseline numbers! These are some serious gains in a 3rd gear pull.
Final results of that chassis dyno testing for the guys short on time: Stock: 440 RWHP/431 RWTQ With Mamo CAI: 468 RWHP/458 RWTQ Tuned w. Mamo CAI: 482 RWHP/471 RWTQ
What About Heat Soak?
All intakes experience heat soak, and we wondered about this too. To find out we installed a two-wire GM IAT sensor in the side of the Ram Air SS box, right above the filter area, splicing it into the OEM MAF/IAT wire harness (the C6 has MAF and IAT sensors in the same place right in front of the TB). We extended the OEM wires that go to the IAT portion of the MAF sensor to pick up the resistance recorded by my more optimally placed IAT sensor.
Any tuner will tell you that part of the problem with tuning these cars (especially on a chassis dyno) is excessive heat soak because of where the IAT is located (right above the fans and just behind the radiator). The entire MAF housing gets very hot too, which further skews your actual IAT readings.
Since we relocated our IAT sensor to right in the airbox cavity, directly above the filter) we are seeing much more accurate IATs, and aren’t seeing the artificial heat soak that the stock IAT sees because of its placement, which can skew the data. As soon as the car starts moving we can watch the temps drop thanks to the ambient air rushing in the plenum box. With the sensor in this location, we when at idle or driving slowly the temps climb slowly because the underhood temps are not affecting our IAT and artificially heat soaking the sensor. The bottom line is this: No system is impervious to heat soak, but IATs drop much faster using this CAI design than any other design we’ve tested. If hear soak is a real concern under any condition, we recommend upgrading to a lower temp thermostat, electric water pump, and installing a switch to manually control your fans.
Can You Buy One?
YES! We have a supply of these original CAI's available now, and are sourcing a new vendor to speed up production.
The 90mm version of this kit sells for $625 (you retain your OEM coupler to connect the lid of the plenum box to the throttle body) . If you have a larger, 102/103mm aftermarket TB, the kit includes a larger coupler and the kit cost is $655. These systems are available to order on www.mamomotorsports.com!